Photo:Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski /U.S. Coast Guard

Sadly, the US Coast Guard has suspended the search for Captain Robin Walbridge, who was washed off the HMS Bounty as she sank in high seas on Monday off the coast of North Carolina.   Claudene Christian, 42, was also lost overboard. She was later found by the Coast Guard unconscious, but subsequently died.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families,” said Capt. Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District. ”Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions we have to make.”

Coast Guard crews searched more than 90 hours, covering approximately 12,000 overlapping square nautical miles in the Atlantic Ocean since the Bounty’s crew abandoned ship Monday morning.

The Coast Guard began their investigation Thursday to determine the cause of the sinking of the Bounty.   Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to the post.